ton leistner



(No Model.) 4 Sheets--Sheet 1. E. VON LEISTNER. TOY BUILDING BLOCK.

Patented Aug. 28, 1894.

INVENTO v M I I I z (No Model.) 4 Shets-Sheet 2'. E. VON LEISTNER. TOYBUILDING BLOCK V No. 525,221. I Patented Aug. 28, 1894.

2 INVENTO 72 WITNESSES.

(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 3.

E. VON LEIST'NE-R. TOY BUILDING BLOUK.

No. 525,221 Patented Aug. 28, 1894.

WITNESSES:

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(No Model.) 4 Sheets- Sheet 4.

E. VON LEISTNER.

TOY BUILDING BLOCK.

No. 525,221. Patented Aug. 28, 1894.

' (a b a W/TNESSES/ v INVEN'%AML UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDWARD VON LEISTNER, or STAPLETON, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF To MoRrrzSTEINMANN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y. I

TOY BUILDING-BLOCK SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No.525,221, dated August 28, 1894.

Application filed October 9,1393. sent mental. lNomodel.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD VON LEISTNER, a subject of theEmperor ofGermany, residing at Stapleton, in the county of Richmond and State ofNew York, haveinvented certain new and useful lmprovements in ToyBuilding-Blocks, of which the following is a specification.

The object of this invention is to supply children of that age when theygradually outtowers and the like can be readily constructed,

and thereby the constructive features of iron and steel structures berendered perfectly clear and comprehensible to children of mature age. vIn carrying out my invention a comparatively small number of elementaryparts are employed, of which, however, according to the size of theblocks, a greater or smaller number is used. These elementary parts areall made of sheet-metal, aluminum'or brass being preferred. They aresupplemented by wooden strips or blocks for forming the floors of abridge and the supporting pillars of the same. i The elementary partsand their multiples can be increased in number and kind for advancedchildren, so as to enable them to build certain specific structures,such as the Brooklyn bridge, the Eiffel-tower, the Ferris-wheel,&c. Forall these structures, however, the elementary parts are necessary, theybeing necessary for all structures produced. A number of progressiveinstruction books representing the difierent structures, from the simpleto the more'complicated ones, are supplied, so that children can readilyform trusses, arches, &c., which form the main or fundamental featuresof iron structures.

My invention consists therefore, of bridge or other structurebuilding-blocks, which comprise a number of upright struts havingperforations at the ends and bent-up parallel flanges at the sides,longitudinal angle-pieces having perforations at the ends, angulartransverse pieces also provided with perforations near the ends and withscrew thread extensions for the retaining-nuts, fiat diagonal braces orpieces for connecting the struts and longitudinal pieces, said diagonalbraces or pieces having also perforated ends, and diagonal binding-rodsfor the transverse pieces, formed of wire and provided with hookshapedends, so as to engage the perforations of said transverse pieces. i r

H The invention consists further of a truss formed of a number of theelementary pieces 66 described, which truss forms the foundation of allthe different structures that can be made, by simply employing saidelementary pieces.

vIn the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents an isometric view ofa simple form of truss-bridge, built with my improvedbridgebuilding-blocks. Fig. 2"is a similar view of an arch truss-bridge,constructed with my blocks. Fig. 3 is an isometric view, on a 70 largerscale, of one section of the truss, as built up from theelementarypieces of my blocks, representing the truss shown in Fig.

1. Fig.,4 is a like view of a section of the truss shown in Fig. 2, andFigs. 5, 6, 7, 8, 9,

10 and 11 are isometric views of the difierent elementary pieces, whichcompose my improved b'ridge building toy-blocks, and Fig. 12, is anisometric view of one of the wooden plants or strips by which the floorof the bridge or other structureis formed.

Similar letters refer to like parts in all the figures.

All the elementary pieces of my bridge or other structure buildingtoy-blocks, ,except thewooden pieces which are used as planks orsupporting-pillars, are made from sheetmetal, so as to decrease theweight of the blocks and the structure made from the same, as much aspossible. The elementary pieces are composed of at least two uprightstruts a. and b, which are made in different lengths, a longitudinalpiece d, an angular transverse piece 6, a flat diagonal brace or piecef, screwnuts 6 for connecting the said pieces to the 5 ends of theangular transversepiece e, and diagonal binding-rods or braces g. Theup.- right struts wand 12 are provided with perfo- I rations a, b attheir ends and with bent up parallel flanges a 19 along the sides, whichflanges terminate near the perforated ends. The ends a b of, the strutsa, 1) project beyond their flanges. The longitudinal piece cl isprovided with several perforations d in each end and with a side flange(1 and the ends d thereof also project beyond the flange (1 Thetransverse piece 6 is bent longitudinally into angular form and withinits angle is soldered or otherwise secured, a longitudinal wire rod ewhich is extended beyond the angular piece e so as to formscrew-threaded projecting ends 6 on which may be secured the nuts awhich are provided with milled heads to permit them to be readily takenhold of with the fingers. A number of perforations e is provided in eachend of the side plates .of the angularly bent piece 6. The fiat diagonalbraces f are provided with a number of perforations f at each end, whilethe wire binding-rods or braces g are bent in the form of hooks g ateach end, so as to be sprung into and engage the perforations of theangular pieces 01.

Besides the elementary pieces so far described, and as shown in Figs. 5to 11, a number of small flat pieces of wood h which represent theplanks of the bridge are used, as shown in Fig. 12.

For special structures additional blocksin imitation of pillars can besupplied, while also multiples of the different elementary pieces indiiferent lengths may be added.

In putting together a single-truss from the elementary pieces described,the longitudinal pieces 11 are first placed on the threaded projectingends e of the transverse pieces e, the flat diagonal pieces or braces fbeing then placed on the same, and lastly, the upright struts a, b, theparts being then firmly connected by screwing the nuts e on saidthreaded ends of the transverse pieces 6, as shown in Figs. 3 and t. Thediagonal binding-rods or braces g are then applied to the top and bottomtransverse pieces e, by inserting the hooks into the perforationse ofsaid pieces after which the planks h are placed on theinwardly-projecting flanges d of the longitudinal pieces 01, as shown inFigs. 3 and 4:. The next section of the truss is then built in the samemanner, and so on until the entire bridge or other structure iscompleted.

In making arched trusses, the smaller struts a are preferably used, inwhich case also the outer perforations f at the upper ends of thediagonal pieces f are employed, and also the inner perforations at thelower ends, whereby the shortening of the lower longitudinal pieces d ofthe truss is obtained, so that an arched truss is obtained from thesediderent sections, as shown in the lower part of Fig. 2.

In place of the angular transverse pieces and the screw-nuts screwed onthe same, any other equivalent locking device, such as spring-keys andlike evident devices may be used, as I do not desire to confine myselfto the use of screw-nuts. Sofar I have found the screw-nuts to be thebest mode of connecting the parts, as they can thereby be more firmlyunited, the spring-keys or similar devices producing a less rigid orslightly wabbling connection of the parts. 7

In using the term bridge, I desire to include any steel or ironstructure, as this term is merely selected for the sake of convenienceand brevity, it being obvious that any other structure, as for instancethe Eiffel tower, Ferris-wheel, and similar structures, may be built bya number of my elementary pieces, in addition to some elementary piecessuch as are required for the foundation or spiderframes of thestructure.

It is obvious that a large variety of structures in imitation ofmetallic bridges and other iron structures can be made, whereby boys ofmore advanced age can be instructively occupied.

All the parts after use can be disconnected and stored within a box ofcomparatively small size, as a large number of parts can be placedwithin a small compass. A number of boxes containing a smaller or largermultiple. of the elementary pieces can be placed on the market, so thatboys can progress from simple structures to more complicated structures,or-specific boxes can be made for producing a specific iron structure ofspecial repute.

What I claim is-- 1. A set of bridge building-blocks, comprising anumber of elementary pieces of sheetmetal, representing struts,longitudinals, transverse-pieces, braces and binding-rods, said strutshaving side flanges and perforated ends projecting beyondthe flanges,said longitudinals having side-flanges and perforated ends, and saidbra'ces having perforated ends, and means for connecting the struts,longitudinals and braces to the ends of said transverse-pieces,substantially as set forth.

2. A set of bridge-building-blocks, comprising a number of elementarypieces of sheetmetal, representing struts, longitudinals,

transverse-pieces, braces and binding-rods, said transverse-pieces beingangular in crosssection and provided with perforations in both of itsside-plates, and said binding-rods having end-hooks adapted tobereceived in the perforations of the transverse-pieces, and means forconnecting the struts, longitudinals and braces to the ends of saidtransversepieces, substantially as set forth.

3. A toy-truss, composed of upright struts having perforations at theirends and side flanges, longitudinals having perforated ends and sideflanges, flat diagonal-braces having struts, longitudinals and flatdiagonal-braces piece of sheet metal provided with perforato the ends ofsaid transverse pieces, substantions near the ends in each plate of thesame tially as set forth. and with threaded ends extendingbeyond the I 54. A longitudinal piece for toy-bridges or apexthereof, substantially asset forth.

other toy structures, composed of a flat main In testimony that I claimthe foregoing as piece having a single side flange bent up at myinvention I have signed my name in presright angles therefrom and twoperforations ence of two subscribing witnesses.

in each end of the main piece, said ends extending beyond the saidflange, substantially W R N LEISTNER' as set forth. I Witnesses:

-5. A transverse piece for toy-bridges or PAUL GOEPEL, other toystructures, composed of an angular I CHARLES SOHROEDER.

